Last Updated on May 11, 2021, 6:50 AM AST by Anthony Morris
An undisputed U.S. attorney who has spent more than two decades with Chevron Corp on pollution in the Ecuadorian rainforest on Monday tried to ward off charges of criminal contempt for the energy company.
Steven Donziger is on trial in federal court in New York in the United States for failing to turn over his computer, telephones and other electronic devices, and the court order refuses to surrender his passport in the civil case by Chevron.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska is leading the case without a jury.
In an opening statement, the prosecution lawyer Rita Glavin said that Donziger had deliberately chosen to disregard the court orders to hand over his devices and documents.
“Choices have consequences,” she said.
Martin Garbus, who argues for Donziger, painted a different picture, saying that the court was initially not clear on what the lawyer wanted to hand over. Lago Agrio region attempted to hold Chevron liable for water and soil contamination in the jungle between 1964 and 1992.
Chevron said Texaco, acquired by Chevron, cleaned up the pollution and that state-owned Petroecuador was primarily responsible for the pollution.
In 2011, Donziger won a $ 9.5 billion ruling against Chevron in an Ecuadorian court. Later that year, the American company Donziger sued in federal court in Manhattan, claiming that he and his associates had put the judge in Ecuador under pressure.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled in favour of Chevron in 2014, saying the Ecuadorian ruling was secured through bribery, fraud and extortion.
Chevron attempted to recover money Donziger raised as a result of the ruling, and Donziger was ordered to hand over certain electronic devices to the company’s forensic experts. When he refused, Kaplan charged him with criminal contempt.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
